Cops in net as anti-drug drive intensifies in northeast

At least a dozen police personnel in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam have been arrested since March

In May 2020, the police in Arunachal Pradesh’s West Kameng district arrested a Postmaster named Kalido Pertin for providing ₹1.15 lakh to procure 12.5 gm of heroin from Assam’s Tezpur. They also arrested an Indian Reserve Battalion constable who helped two drug-traffickers cross the Bhalukpong check gate on the Arunachal Pradesh-Assam border. The arrests confirmed what the State government had been suspecting for a long time — drug addiction among government employees. This culminated in the Pema Khandu government asking its employees to report their addiction to senior officers by July 31 this year for a rehabilitation programme, or face legal action. But the anti-drug drive in the State since May has led the security forces to their own. Less than a fortnight ago, Home Minister Bamang Felix said 25 out of 143 people booked in 100 drug-related cases were police personnel, two of whom have been dismissed from service.